A Virgin Or A Young Woman?

Orthodox Jews claim that Matthew 1:23 misquoted Isiah 7:14. They say that word “Alma” means young woman and not a virgin. And the word for virgin is “Besula”. Is that true?

Q. Orthodox Jews claim that Matthew 1:23 misquoted Isiah 7:14. They say that word “Alma” means young woman and not a virgin. And the word for virgin is “Besula”. Is that true?

A. Some orthodox Jews rightly claim that the word “alma” in the Hebrew of Isaiah 7:14 can simply mean “a young woman” and that the proper word for virgin is bethulah. But when they say this they’re being deceptive and here’s why.

First, Isaiah was offering an important sign from the Lord to Israel. What kind of a sign would it be if a young woman gave birth to a son? That was an everyday occurrence.

Second, when 70 Hebrew scholars translated Isaiah 7:14 into Greek a few hundred years later in the course of developing an official Greek language Bible, they chose the Greek word parthenos, which can only refer to a person who has never had sexual intercourse, a virgin. The Greek translation was called the Septuagint and was pretty much complete by about 150 BC. Here’s what they didn’t tell you.

When the Lord had a prophet speak an important word with a fulfillment far in the future, he often had them phrase it in such a way that it could be partially fulfilled in their lifetimes. This partial fulfillment served as confirmation of the ultimate one. In Isaiah’s case, it was his own wife who bore a son and the name Immanuel was associated with him. (Isaiah 8)

The Lord couldn’t call Isaiah’s wife a virgin because she wasn’t, and besides there would only ever be one virgin birth. But He could use a word that hinted of it, and so he had Isaiah use Alma. After Isaiah was long gone and they only had the ultimate fulfillment to deal with, the 70 Hebrew Scholars disclosed the clear intent of the passage. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son.